Re: Free!

HonorableShadow wrote:

Thanks for the recs! I like to think that Haruka is one of the Sea People from Nagi no Asuka. It'd make so much sense.

That would make sense! Headcanon accepted.

One thing that always made me wonder, how come Makoto is the one who is afraid of the ocean when it was Rin who lost his father in a fishing accident? You'd figure Rin would be the one to develop such a phobia instead of Makoto.

I think the key to understanding why Rin isn't scared of the ocean is in High Speed 2 in that scene with Rin's grandmother. Apparently Rin's dad isn't the only one who drowned, [his grandpa and great grandpa also died young from drowning, all in separate incidents. His grandma had to bury 3 generations of Matsuoka men and yet it's revealed that she's still a deep sea pearl diver even in her old age. I think that the Matsuoka family isn't one to fear the ocean no matter what. (Though they probably should develop a healthy fear of it at this point... and Rin really should be wearing a life vest at all times since odds are his family is cursed or something. ) ]

Thanks for the info, I'm still in the first chapters of volume 1 of HS. The anime also downplayed Makoto's water phobia to a great degree, to the point that going by HS canon it is very difficult to imagine how Makoto would have been able to swim in the open water at all. Then again, the whole incident with the training camp was great for drama but it shows a huge lack of insight as you do not take someone who can barely swim to the sea like that. It would have been much more sensible to swim along the coastline.

Aw, thanks! The links do not seem to work, though, maybe it's a problem my way.

Re: Free!

HonorableShadow wrote:

I get where you're coming from though because I feel the same way about MakoHaru. :X

The Haru being with Makoto or Rin thing is like being Team Jacob or Team Edward in twilight. Worse than politics in tearing apart friends and family. And generally people like just one and strongly dislike the other. I'm willing to compromise with a threesome.

I didn't actually mean to imply that I think Rin x Haru is abusive, far from it, just that I would normally not mind a relationship with their kind of dynamic, or even much more aggressive than their dynamic, but this one in particular doesn't do it for me.

I rather liked Rei & Rin in the watergun episode special, but as dork friends.

EDIT: I forget if I ever showed you guys my free! Chibis.

I drew iy right after season 1 ended and I was so super pissed with Rin I took him out of the line-up (as this is based on official series art). I felt a tad guilty after season 2 as I do think he redeemed himself somewhat.

Re: Free!

It amuses me that Ai's official animal is a duck. Poor guy. His role in the drama CDs is absolutely hilarious, from his amazing Rin-centered diary (what more does Ai even write about?) to his decision to match Rin's speed in *stripping* only to be caught in the act, everything about Ai is pure gold. Bonus points for the fact that despite its shortened version, 'Aiichirou' actually is a manly name as opposed to most of the Free! boys.

Re: Free!

Nocturnalux wrote:

It amuses me that Ai's official animal is a duck. Poor guy. His role in the drama CDs is absolutely hilarious, from his amazing Rin-centered diary (what more does Ai even write about?) to his decision to match Rin's speed in *stripping* only to be caught in the act, everything about Ai is pure gold. Bonus points for the fact that despite its shortened version, 'Aiichirou' actually is a manly name as opposed to most of the Free! boys.

@YamPuff, the link does not seem to be working.

I thought he was supposed to be a swan, like the ugly duckling story (the grey hair resembling their down). Is he just a wee little duckling?

Actually, the whole animal persona thing is waaaaaaaaay too fun. I really wish Gou had been given one, even if she wasn't a swimmer. She could be a predatory Leopard Seal or Polar Bear, oggling all the hot swimming boy fish. Actually one of the things I really wanted to see more of in Free! was sibling interaction between Gou and Rin, which is better in S2 but in S1 you wonder what was actually the point of having the two be related other than off-screen narrative convenience in the first few episodes.

I really want a third season, with Rei and Gou starting up their own swimwear line. He provides the aerodynamics, she makes them sexy. Nagisa eats candy in the corner and cons Rei into all the modeling work.

Re: Free!

OnlyInThisLight wrote:

I really want a third season, with Rei and Gou starting up their own swimwear line. He provides the aerodynamics, she makes them sexy. Nagisa eats candy in the corner and cons Rei into all the modeling work.

That'd be gold. For extra lols have Rei design a collection. It'd be rainbows all over the place and extra fabulousness. And then have Nagisa design a Iwatobi-chan collection.

According to the Free! wiki, Ai's official animal is indeed a duck but it seems he is also often associated with a seal. And yes, Gou should have a spirit animal herself. I wonder if the HS only boys will get their own spirit animals in the movie. And on that subject, Sousuke's is a whale shark, I think? And Makoto is a killer whale. I can't help thinking it should be the other way around, killer whale is way more fitting to Sousuke and whale shark does fit Makoto very well, being a huge but harmless fish.

Re: Free!

I think it's because orcas have large family pods, and teach all their survival techniques and hunting strategies to their children rather than relying on instinct (which fits well with Makoto's nurturing personality and desire to teach swimming as a profession). Orcas are cool fat dolphins

I think the sharks are used for Rin and Soubutts (shipping aside) to in part represent their competitiveness/aggression when it comes to swimming.

Re: Free!

Now that I think about it, I suspect the killer whale element for Makoto comes from HS as it is mentioned very early on that his forceful style of swimming is like that of an orca.

Ironically enough, whale sharks are herbivorous and cannot hunt to save their lives. They may be the biggest fish currently living but are not known for their strength and have no violent instinct at all.

Orcas, on the other hand, gobble up seals left and right and are called 'killer' whales for a reason.

As for Rei, the butterfly symbol is not just connected to his swimming style, he is just that fabulous.

Re: Free!

Nocturnalux wrote:

Now that I think about it, I suspect the killer whale element for Makoto comes from HS as it is mentioned very early on that his forceful style of swimming is like that of an orca.

Ironically enough, whale sharks are herbivorous and cannot hunt to save their lives. They may be the biggest fish currently living but are not known for their strength and have no violent instinct at all.

Orcas, on the other hand, gobble up seals left and right and are called 'killer' whales for a reason.

As for Rei, the butterfly symbol is not just connected to his swimming style, he is just that fabulous.

Rei should have been a gorgeous jellyfish!!

Hmm... are whale sharks solitary? Sousquishy is revealed to be a nice if pretty serious and standoffish guy, but he is markedly more solitary and introverted than the rest of the cast, even Haru, and a large part of his plot-line dealt with him disliking team swammin'. I assume the shark thing was a deliberate bluff meant to play on the fact that Sousuke is big and looks menacing, but throughout S2 the viewer learns he isn't to be feared. They also, while gentle, for the most part tend to ignore divers and other animals. The opposite of an Orca, really. I always thought there would be this moment in the series where we would see Makoto stand up for or against someone and use his size because of his Orca symbol.

[ And I cannot really consider Orcas too menacing, all things considered. They are not any more or less cruel than other predators, they are just insanely good at it. Playing with their partially injured but still alive food is part of how they teach their young to hunt and keep their own skills honed. I always wondered if that was the trade off of high intelligence, the need to repeat behaviors and movements to mind and muscle memory, especially, because there is less instinct to fall back on. ]

I just realized I need a Lisa Frank style fanart of all the Free! casts animal counterparts.

Re: Free!

Rei would probably love being a jellyfish, so pretty. Just to annoy him, he should get stuck with a manta ray. Then again, manta rays are beautiful in their own way.

To be honest, I do not think a lot of thinking went into assigning each boy a spirit animals. Otherwise Haruka would hardly be a dolphin since dolphins are known for being very gregarious, lively and even eager to interact with people. Odds are he gets a dolphin for a symbol because it's a cute animal and because his swimming style does get compared to a dolphin.

As for whale sharks, the problem is that they are very slow. They swim leisurely pretty much all the time. Add to that a lack of any aggressiveness at all and they are hardly Sousuke like. I have no idea whether they are solitary but it'd guess so.

About Makoto's orca symbol, it has more basis as it features in High Speed but there it has only to do with the Makoto's swimming style and the text does state that there quite a contrast between the way Makoto swims- as if he was pursuing something- and his personality. I just re-read it as it had slipped my mind.

Re: Free!

To be honest, I do not think a lot of thinking went into assigning each boy a spirit animals. Otherwise Haruka would hardly be a dolphin since dolphins are known for being very gregarious, lively and even eager to interact with people. Odds are he gets a dolphin for a symbol because it's a cute animal and because his swimming style does get compared to a dolphin.

I always thought that Haru's secondary animal (a kite bird) was more suitable for him. It seems to get more use in the anime too. He's always looking out the window at that bird and when he found his dream, it looked like he had wings. There was a shadow of the bird flying over the pool in the OP - plus when he was a kid, Rin described him as being like a water bird. Iwatobi is also a kite and Haru likes him a lot. I can see why they wanted to go with a marine animal over a bird, but sometimes I wish they had just stuck with the bird imagery.

Re: Free!

Haru's might have been purely for aesthetics and perception much like Sousuke and his whale shark. Sousuke's is meant to represent that despite his outward size and appearance, he's a gentle giant that tends to keep to himself and let the meddling of others roll of his back. Dolphins are incredibly talented swimmers and their intelligence makes them endearing and useful to humans. Maybe Haru's dolphin in part represents his conflict over his own talent; he is so idolized by his peers and so many people want him to swim for something other than the pure joy of it. Haru doesn't want to jump through hoops just because you think he's majestic, he wants to be ~*FREE*~.

Plus there is a conflict between dolphins and sharks for food, and both are capable, in the right conditions, of killing one another, so his animal works well in representing his rivalry with Rin.

We need more swimmers. We need a stoner sea turtle distance swimmer, a speedy little badmouthed barracuda, a gorgeous and powerful leopard seal, and an androgynous sea horse.

Re: Free!

Makoto comments that Haruka swims like a dolphin right in the first chapter of High Speed which probably had something to do with his spirit animal choice.

HonorableShadow wrote:

I always thought that Haru's secondary animal (a kite bird) was more suitable for him. It seems to get more use in the anime too. He's always looking out the window at that bird and when he found his dream, it looked like he had wings. There was a shadow of the bird flying over the pool in the OP - plus when he was a kid, Rin described him as being like a water bird. Iwatobi is also a kite and Haru likes him a lot. I can see why they wanted to go with a marine animal over a bird, but sometimes I wish they had just stuck with the bird imagery.

Haruka also gets compared to a water bird in HS and in both cases his 'elegance' is highlighted.Is Iwatobi-chan supposed to be a kite? I had no idea, I thought it was a penguin. Granted, it's not easy to see as its anatomy is a tad...strange.

OnlyInThisLight wrote:

We need more swimmers. We need a stoner sea turtle distance swimmer, a speedy little badmouthed barracuda, a gorgeous and powerful leopard seal, and an androgynous sea horse.

Re: Free!

Oh, I see! Samezuka-chan is easily recognized as a shark but it's a bit difficult to see just what Iwatobi-chan is supposed to be by just looking at it. This reminds me of Haruka's love for mascots, he was really excited about Shimashima-chan in the drama CD. The sand cake was a really adorable moment, too.

Re: Free!

Rather than Rei on a butterfly I'd rather have Rei with actual butterfly wings. He's fabulous enough to pull it off, complete with super dramatic posing along with the fluttering of rainbow colored butterfly wings. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes.

Today I had the pool all to myself (due to some problem there was no hot water in the showers and the pool water was rather cold as well so everyone bailed out) and had some delicious mackerel for dinner. I'm turning into Haruka.

Re: Free!

purplepolecat, those AMVs are amazing, and I cannot get over how STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS the animation on this show is. Beautiful boys, realistic swimming movement, and lovely animation?---I'm going to have to watch it now. I'm joining the club. (Err..the swim team? )

Re: Free!

Riri-kins wrote:

I'm starting to ship Makoto/Gou. He's a sweet guy and she doesn't mind it when he calls her Gou-chan. Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic, but I see potential.

I was reluctant to post it but I SHIP THIS LIKE THE PONY EXPRESS. They're both very cute and balance each other perfectly, from the little of Free! I've seen, at least. Plus there are quite a few beautifully written fics for the ship and I do love me a quality fic:dance:.

LOl, this, so much! But what's with the swimsuit, show some skin, Rei! Oh well, Nagisa can easily persuade Rei to even put on a bikini.

This reminds me of a crazy fan theory about how Nagisa is calling the shots on everything. It was Nagisa who first wanted to bring back the school's swimming club, it was Nagisa who wanted Rei to join the team and even as early as HS it was Nagisa who managed to convince Rin into letting him join the relay.